Newly obtained recordings allegedly show Post Office managers were aware of accounting errors in the Horizon IT system and that subpostmasters were not to blame. The audio tapes from 2013, disclosed a conversation between forensic accountants with firm Second Sight and Post Office managers.
The Horizon IT system was created by Japanese tech company Fujitsu, which has a head office in Bracknell, west London, to manage accounts and was rolled out by the Post Office in 1999. Sub-postmasters soon noticed errors after the system started to report incorrect results and shortfalls.
Sub-postmasters were wrongly blamed for the system's faults and were made to cover the money that mistakenly appeared to have been missing from their branches. Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 sub-postmasters were convicted of theft and false accounting with some being put in prison.
The plight of the sub-postmasters returned to the spotlight following the airing of ITV's drama about the miscarriage of justice.Recordings obtained by Channel 4 allegedly disclosed the Post Office was aware of faults in Horizon's programming and that sub-postmasters were not at fault. In the first recording obtained by Channel 4, Post Office IT specialist Simon Baker informed independent accountants of issues with the company's accounts being changed overnight.
"I did ask Fujitsu to actually come clean and apparently there is a process where, sorry, there is a technical avenue where you can technically do some form of adjustment," Baker said. "But apparently it's very carefully monitored, controlled, audited stuff, type stuff."
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Forensic accountant Ian Henderson from firm Second Sight responded: "The impression I get looking at the emails is whilst in theory there might be those sorts of controls and so on. You know, they're the sort of controls that are in a procedures manual. There's actually, there's no electronic lock, if I can put it that way. In other words, if somebody in Bracknell had a brainstorm and wanted to do something they could just do it."
Former sub-postmaster Alan Bates took on the Post Office and has campaigned for justice. (PA)"Whether they're shown as a system adjustment, a journal adjustment or whatever or whether they are linked, and this would be the nightmare scenario, whether they are linked to a SPMRs (sub-postmaster's) ID," Henderson later said. Baker then responded: "Yeah, that would be the nightmare. And the other factor for me is, was the sub-postmaster informed?"
In the tapes of the alleged conversation, Baker stated he told Post Office chiefs that Fujitsu admitted it could access sub-postmaster accounts without informing them.
Wrongly convicted sub-postmasters have battled to clear their names. (REX/Shutterstock)Second Sight, who the Post Office tasked with carrying out an independent investigation, found bugs with the Horizon system.
Fujitsu did not want to comment on the particular recordings, but told The Mirror: "The Fujitsu Group regards this matter with the utmost seriousness and offers its deepest apologies to the sub-postmasters and their families. The UK statutory public Inquiry, to which our UK subsidiary is providing full cooperation, is examining complex events that have unfolded over many years, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to this cooperation.
Liam Byrne, Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill, called the revelations made in the recording "enraging." (PA)"Based on the findings of the Inquiry, we will also be working with the UK government on the appropriate actions, including contribution to compensation. The Fujitsu Group hopes for a swift resolution that ensures a just outcome for the victims."
Ian Henderson told The Mirror he could not comment about the recordings as he is due to give evidence to the Post Office Inquiry later this year
Liam Byrne, Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill, said the recordings shared by Channel 4 were "enraging." In a March 27 post posted on X, formerly Twitter, he said: "On tape, people who knew the wrongs of the #PostOfficeScandal two years before [the] Post Office stopped sending innocent people to prison. We must now ask whether police have enough evidence to bring those who jailed the innocent to justice."
The plight of wrongly convicted sub-postmasters returned to the spotlight in the four-part ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office. The drama took its name from the case brought by former sub-postmaster Alan Bates and several others.
The Mirror has contacted the Post Office and Mr Henderson for comment.
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